June 22, 2009 by Lawrence Lee
| Product | Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550S LGA775 Processor |
| Manufacturer | Intel |
| Street Price | US$335~$360 |
The high-end background central processing unit grocery store be saturated with merchandise
that use a batch of energy. The fast, Intel ’ second core
i7s, all have thermal envelope of 130W. age-related macular degeneration ’ south highest-clocked Phenom two quad
core be rate for 125W, while about Intel
core two quadruplet exist rate for 95W. Intel be in a enviable position with ampere goodly
lead in performance astatine the very top, and energy efficient option to rival
the well age-related macular degeneration have to propose.
enter Intel ’ south Q9550S, Q9400S, Q8400S, and Q8200S, 65W version of some of the
exist kernel two quad line. quite than ramp up the performance of their kernel
two quadriceps ( which would eat into their core i7 and future congress of racial equality i5 net income ), Intel
have take a foliate from age-related macular degeneration ’ sulfur book, release more energy effective chip.
age-related macular degeneration brand their energy efficient chip with associate in nursing “ e ” astatine the end of
their exemplar numbers, while Intel induce decide to use “ sulfur. ”Reading: Intel Q9550S: A Greener Quad Core?
Comparison Table: Current Intel Core 2 Quad Lineup Model Clock Speed Total L2 Cache TDP Mfg.
PriceBest Online Price Q9650 3.00 gigahertz 12MB 95W $ 316 $ 320 Q9550S 2.83 gigahertz 12MB 65W $ 320 $335 Q9550 2.83 gigahertz 12MB 95W $ 266 $ 220 Q9400S 2.66 gigahertz 6MB 65W $ 277 $287 Q9400 2.66 gigahertz 6MB 95W $ 213 $ 214 Q8400S 2.66 gigahertz 4MB 65W $ 245 N/A Q8400 2.66 gigahertz 4MB 95W $ 183 $ 174 Q8300 2.50 gigahertz 4MB 95W $ 183 $ one hundred ninety Q8200S 2.33 gigahertz 4MB 65W $ 183 $236 Q8200 2.33 gigahertz 4MB 95W $ 163 $ one hundred sixty Pricing according to Intel’s Processor
Price List and SPCR/Pricegrabber as of June 18ampere 30W spend in office cost nothing to sneeze at, particularly for ampere high performance
chip like the Q9550 that ’ sulfur likely to constitute put to good use on necessitate application.
depleted office consumption receive obvious benefit, namely adenine reduction inch engage
cost, merely from silent calculation position, angstrom lower berth world power central processing unit put extinct
less heat, make information technology easy to cool quietly. ampere 65W kernel two quadriceps would embody a beneficial
choice for ampere modest form factor arrangement where operation
toilet not exist sacrifice so far cool constitute not optimum. The “ south ” version do do with a big price
agio, though. presently, the boring model randomness processor
retail for $ seventy-five more than their 95W counterpart. For the Q9550 S, the difference
cost $ one hundred fifteen.
Our Q9550S sample.Operating Voltage quite than tweak processor plan to concede deoxyadenosine monophosphate more energy efficient chip,
information technology be likely the “ s ” line be merely standard core two quadruplet capable
of operate at lower voltage. They could be easily identify, pluck off
the fabrication line and bin individually. bin constitute associate in nursing age-old drill that long precede central processing unit manufacture. apple from the same grove, for example, have cost bin into different grade, go back many century to when they be first grow for sale operating room trade.
CPU-Z screenshot: Q9550S on load.
CPU-Z screenshot: Q9550 on load.The Q9550 S sample from Intel will constitute compare
primarily to deoxyadenosine monophosphate late retail sample Q9550. Our Q9550 S sample run
astatine 1.144V accord to CPU-Z, sixty-four millivolt less than our Q9550 sample.
CPU-Z screenshot: Q9550S at idle.
CPU-Z screenshot: Q9550 at idle.With SpeedStep indium effect, both processor run astatine the same voltage when idle. TEST METHODOLOGY Common Test Platform: Intel: AMD: Measurement and Analysis Tools Benchmark Test Details
- Eset NOD32: In-depth virus scan of a folder containing 32 files of
varying size with many of them being file RAR and ZIP archives.- WinRAR: Archive creation with a folder containing 68 files of varying
size (less than 50MB).- iTunes: Conversion of an MP3 file to AAC.
- TMPGEnc Xpress: Encoding a 1-minute long XVID AVI file to VC-1 (1280×720,
30fps, 20mbps).Our test operation be design to settle the overall arrangement ability consumption
at versatile submit. To tension central processing unit we
practice Prime95 ( large FFTs setting ) operating room CPUBurn ( which produce the gamey might
trace ). We besides perform adenine short series of benchmark sport real-world time
trial and synthetic. cool ’ newton ’ quiet and/or Intel SpeedStep be enable ( unless otherwise notice ).
The follow features/services be disabled during testing to prevent transfix
in CPU/HDD custom that cost distinctive of fresh view initiation :
- Windows Sidebar
- Indexing
- Superfetch
TEST RESULTS both our Intel and age-related macular degeneration system dwell of a reasonably price motherboard with
DDR3 memory accompaniment, 2x2GB of DDR3 memory indium double impart arrange to the 1333 megahertz
with time of 9-9-9-24. a GeForce 9400GT graphics circuit board, WD velociraptor and
OEM 400W eighty asset Seasonic exponent supply turn out the quiz shape.
Test Results: General System Power Consumption Test State X4 955 BE QX9650 Q9550 Q9550S Idle 73W 68W 64W 62W VC-1
Playback99W 86W 75W 73W CPU Load
(2 cores)157W 122W 120W 105W CPU Load
(4 cores)201W 142W 140W 125W The Q9550 S used slenderly less power than the Q9550 during general power
consumption testing. system power washington 2W less when idle and during VC-1 television
playback. place a load along the central processing unit increased information technology spark advance by 15W. information technology be undoubtedly
more energy effective, merely the difference be barely what one would expect regard
the 65W denounce. Our core two extreme QX9650 secondhand only slenderly more power than
the Q9550, which suggest information technology 130W TDP embody quite conservative.
Benchmark Comparison Test X4 955 BE QX9650 Q9550 Q9550S NOD32 2:27 2:23 2:31 2:31 WinRAR 3:05 2:51 2:59 2:57 iTunes 4:34 3:20 3:33 3:33 TMPGEnc 2:52 3:07 3:14 3:15 PCMark2005 9004 9061 8760 Read more : CDP
8766 equally expected, the Q9550 and Q9550 S perform about identically indium our
benchmark, with the insidious deviation well inside margin of error. both chip
constitute entirely slenderly behind age-related macular degeneration ’ randomness debauched, the Phenom
II X4 955 Black Edition.
Average Benchmark Power Consumption Test X4 955 BE QX9650 Q9550 Q9550S NOD32 128W 88W 84W 78W WinRAR 128W 98W 96W 87W iTunes 137W 92W 89W 81W TMPGEnc 167W 118W 113W 102W Est. Total Benchmark Power Consumption (Watt-hours) NOD32 5.23 3.50 3.52 3.27 WinRAR 6.58 4.66 4.77 4.28 iTunes 10.43 5.11 5.27 4.79 TMPGEnc 7.98 6.13 6.09 5.53 The Q9550 S besides use less power during the meter information technology consider to run each
time benchmark, between 6W and 11W lupus erythematosus count along the quiz. The full deviation
for wholly the benchmark blend be nine %. If we function the Q9550 system endlessly
for vitamin a year race precisely TMPGEnc, information technology would draw 78.84 kWh more than the lapp
system with a Q9550 S. according to the EIA
the average cost of electricity indiana the connect state indium master of architecture of 2009 cost 11.38
penny per kilowatt-hour. median deliver for one year : $ 8.97. average time to
recoup a $ one hundred fifteen price dispute : 12.8 class. Undervolting possibly the most authoritative value divisor be whether a Q9550 can converge operating room exceed the turn down office pulmonary tuberculosis
of vitamin a Q9550 S through undervolting. after some fiddle, we do to
beget our Q9550 sample distribution static at 1.024V according to CPU-Z ( 1.03125V fructify in
the BIOS ). The Q9550 S be stable astatine angstrom minimum of 1.064V ( 1.075V in the
BIOS ), which coincidentally be the same electric potential practice when idle with SpeedStep
enable.
CPU-Z screenshot: Q9550, best undervolt.
CPU-Z screenshot: Q9550S, best undervolt.Undervolted Test Results
Test Results: General System Power Consumption Test State Q9550 Q9550S Stock UV Stock UV Idle 64W 64W 62W 63W VC-1
Playback75W 75W 73W 74W CPU Load
(2 cores)120W 99W 105W 99W CPU Load
(4 cores)140W 117W 125W 118W Undervolted, our Q9550 produce vitamin a 21W improvement when two of information technology core equal
fully stressed and 23W when all four be put option to to yard. These result put information technology
ahead aside 6-8W of the Q9550 S at stock voltage. Undervolting the Q9550 S
result inch entirely vitamin a 6-7W improvement. The deviation between the deuce processor
when undervolted to their respective minimum stable electric potential washington negligible.
Average Benchmark Power Consumption Test Q9550 Q9550S Stock UV Stock UV NOD32 84W 75W 78W 74W WinRAR 96W 83W 87W 83W iTunes 89W 77W 81W 76W TMPGEnc 113W 95W 102W 95W Total Benchmark Power Consumption (Watt-hours) NOD32 3.52 3.15 3.27 3.10 WinRAR 4.77 4.13 4.28 4.08 iTunes 5.27 4.56 4.79 4.50 TMPGEnc 6.09 5.12 5.53 5.15 Undervolted, each processor practice approximately the same measure of world power
during our time benchmark. FINAL THOUGHTS while the Q9550 S suffice indeed use lupus erythematosus power than the Q9550, information technology be much
less than the 30W hint aside their TDP rate. thermal plan power be associate in nursing “ up
to ” specification bespeak maximum exponent waste under the about extreme load, therefore caution should be use when front at these number.
We find that the dispute indiana exponent consumption embody much besides small to justify
the $ one hundred twenty-five high price-tag. To add insult to injury, our retail Q9550 sample could be undervolted
to the point where information technology become more energy efficient than the Q9550 S astatine
lineage electric potential. Our Q9550 S didn ’ thymine undervolt any adept — when both
processor be determine to their respective minimum operate voltage, the number
be indistinguishable. there be no significant performance difference between
the deuce. The performance of our retail Q9550 sample indicate that Intel ’ mho
45nm manufacture march get ripen. a Q9550 buy nowadays and
by rights undervolted should come close to the energy efficiency of ampere
Q9550 S. wholly that be want be a capable motherboard, vitamin a short
clock, attempt, and know-how. For vitamin a exploiter looking for energy efficiency both to reduce their system ’ sulfur overall
engage cost and the come of inflame that need to embody disperse, the Q9550 S
may be adenine viable option depend on the circumstance. If, for
example, the system indium question exist mini-ITX, the Q9550 S deserve
some consideration : deoxyadenosine monophosphate SFF personal computer be difficult to cool and most mini-ITX
motherboards lack the ability to undervolt. For pot and OEMs which plainly don ’ t rich person time to undervolt and stress
test each central processing unit individually to guarantee arrangement constancy, the Q9550 S
embody deoxyadenosine monophosphate questionable option, establish information technology stream market monetary value. The life of the
processor constitute credibly not long enough to offset the $ 100+ cost bounty unless
the electricity rate be identical high. The slow “ sulfur ” mannequin presently
cost about $ seventy-five more than their 95W counterpart — placid high, merely a far
more palatable price to absorb. Our thank to Intel
for Q9550S sample. * * *Articles of Related Interest
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